UN Security Council should discuss Royhinga crisis

By Kyaw ye Lynn
YANGON, Myanmar (AA) – An international human rights group on Friday called on the United Nations Security Council to have an emergency meeting about Myanmar’s operation against the Rohingya Muslim community in western Rakhien state.
The violence intensified in Maungdaw area of Rakhine state after a militant group, Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) attacked several police outposts and a military base late last month, triggering a military crackdown in response.
According to the UN and rights groups, military operations forced more than 100,000 Rohingya villagers to escape across the border to neighboring Bangladesh over the past two weeks.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said on Friday that it has interviewed 50 Rohingya refugees who recently arrived in Bangladesh that described killings, shelling, and arson in their villages that have all the hallmarks of a campaign of ethnic cleansing.
“Rohingya refugees have harrowing accounts of fleeing Burmese army attacks and watching their villages be destroyed,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“Lawful operations against armed groups do not involve burning the local population out of their homes.”
HRW said its initial investigations of the current situation in Maugndaw area of Rakhine State are indicative of an ethnic cleansing campaign.
Given that situation, the UNSC should hold a public emergency meeting and warn the Myanmar government that they will face severe sanctions unless they put an end to the brutal campaign against the Rohingya population, said the group. “The United Nations and concerned governments need to press Burma right now to end these horrific abuses against the Rohingya as a first step toward restoring Rohingya to their homes,” said Meenakshi Ganguly.